Rockwood School District: Updates To Rockwood Safe Together Mitigation Strategies

Press release from the Rockwood School District:

June 4, 2021

As we close out the 2020-2021 school year and prepare to welcome those students who will be participating in our Summer Academy and Community Ed programs, we would like to share with you some updates to our Safe Together mitigation strategies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Beginning Monday, June 7, masks will be optional in all district buildings;
• NOTE: Health officials require that everyone on school buses wear masks because our buses are considered public transportation. So even though masks will be optional in our schools and workplaces, they will still be required on school buses. 
• We will discontinue the daily health screening form for staff and visitors.

Throughout this pandemic, we have monitored the data in our schools and in our community and worked with our local health officials for guidance to ensure the safety of our staff and students. Here are the factors that we considered when making this decision:

• Vaccinations are readily available; more adults and eligible children have become vaccinated;
• Positive cases in our schools have steadily declined;
• The transmission rates in our county continue to decline;
• As we transition to summer programs, we will have far fewer students in our schools for half the day, and they will have more opportunities to be outdoors and physically distanced.

Please know that we will continue to contact trace positive cases in our buildings, and we will closely monitor new cases and quarantines. If cases rise and transmission rates increase, we may need to revisit the mask protocol. We will also continue to update the Health Indicators on our website and continue our other Safe Together mitigation measures, including:

• Physically distancing whenever and wherever possible;
• Nightly disinfecting wipe downs at all summer sites on "high touch" hard surfaces as part of the custodial daily cleaning procedures;
• Encouraging frequent hand washing for students and staff;
• Reminding students and staff to stay home if they are not feeling well.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to ensure the health and safety of our staff and students.

As we close out the 2020-2021 school year and prepare to welcome those students who will be participating in our Summer Academy and Community Ed programs, we would like to share with you some updates to our Safe Together mitigation strategies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Beginning Monday, June 7, masks will be optional in all district buildings;
• NOTE: Health officials require that everyone on school buses wear masks because our buses are considered public transportation. So even though masks will be optional in our schools and workplaces, they will still be required on school buses. 
• We will discontinue the daily health screening form for staff and visitors.

Throughout this pandemic, we have monitored the data in our schools and in our community and worked with our local health officials for guidance to ensure the safety of our staff and students. Here are the factors that we considered when making this decision:

• Vaccinations are readily available; more adults and eligible children have become vaccinated;
• Positive cases in our schools have steadily declined;
• The transmission rates in our county continue to decline;
• As we transition to summer programs, we will have far fewer students in our schools for half the day, and they will have more opportunities to be outdoors and physically distanced.

Please know that we will continue to contact trace positive cases in our buildings, and we will closely monitor new cases and quarantines. If cases rise and transmission rates increase, we may need to revisit the mask protocol. We will also continue to update the Health Indicators on our website and continue our other Safe Together mitigation measures, including:

• Physically distancing whenever and wherever possible;
• Nightly disinfecting wipe downs at all summer sites on "high touch" hard surfaces as part of the custodial daily cleaning procedures;
• Encouraging frequent hand washing for students and staff;
• Reminding students and staff to stay home if they are not feeling well.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to ensure the health and safety of our staff and students.

This press release was produced by the Rockwood School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.